I love every season and embrace its produce, its colours and its moods. I ve friends from my bubble over every week and keeping it small and casual is fun. However once in while my inner decorator needs to be satisfied and a majestic table needs to be set. I am very into the desert shades these days: the soft pinks, the deep caramels, the shimmery creams, the sage greens, the scintillating golds and dusty mauves. No surprise that my Autumnal table reflects those colours with these gorgeous dried flowers, herbs and grasses; it gives it that ethereal mood I wanted.
I had a little flashback to the 90ties when potpourri was all the rage but I got great advise at the Agave Boutique in Brussels (no commercial deals, just loving it). I wanted to get real flowers and grasses in their original colours and was pleasantly surprised that my arrangement would last up to 3 to 5 years, now that is sustainable.
I hear ye, one of my tips on centre pieces is they should not obstruct your guests view, well, I broke my own rule. After the floral arrangement was admired by my guests during drinks, once seated I moved it to the side table to be admired from there.
The tablecloth and napkins are very special to me, they were a farewell gift from my Romanian team like 20 some years ago and this handmade set is just sooo dear to me because it reminds me of such fabulous people.
6 tips how to create an Autumnal mood at the table:
1. Get inspired by the Autumnal colours you see in seasonal produce like pumpkin, sweet potato, beetroot, parsnip and celeriac. (see my full list here)
2. Start with a neutral base in the linens, I love white and cream and never really use darker colours but a burnt orange or deep burgundy or deep purple could be goreous too.
3. Use what you love and mix and match! I have heirloom silver cutlery from my parents 2 Michelin star restaurant but I love using my OTT gold cutlery as well, so I mix it up.
4. Use spices to decorate. I used cinnamon sticks and twine around my napkins for an instant scent booster.
5. Soft light is important to set the mood. I am a huge candle lover and these sage or olive green candles were just perfect. I could ve gone with pinks, creams or orange but the green just jumped out at me. Think of direct and diffused light: in small varies the candle light is diffused as with candlesticks they are direct.
6. Use plates fitting in the colour scheme you chose, I used mostly white plates, some with gold rims ( LOVE), I find that food looks best on white but nothing stops you from playing it up.
Written and photographed by Sandra Slawinski without commercial deals. I used my gifted tablecloth and napkins, Zarahome cutlery and my heirloom silver cutlery, candles from Dille & Kamille, Crystal candleholders from. Villeroy Boch, vase from H&M Home, flowers from Agave Boutique, green leaf dishes from Dille & Kamille , my vintage glasses and plates.